Observations
by StormOfTheNorth
Summary: Yuri notices some rather... questionable things about Rita on their journey. That or his imagination's running wild again. Either way, it may not be too long before he snaps. YURITA, set in-game.
1. Cat Ears

**EDIT: Chopped off unnecessary crap = =;; guess I'll make chapters kinda short.**

**AN: Ehehehe... Hello? I know I should be updating my other fics but I'm currently playing ToV and heck is it addictive. Did I mention Yurita is adorable? Anyway, hope there are still ToV fans looking for fics, otherwise my efforts are in vain D:**

**DISCLAIMER: ToV? Mine? Hahahahaha... There would be waaaaay more Yuri/Rita if it was.**

**WARNING - THERE IS MINIMAL PLOT IN THIS FIC.**

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><p>The material gathering had been Karol's idea. Raven had agreed quickly, complaining that they had been under-equipped for days, the monsters being too strong for an old-timer like him. Yuri, who found the more challenging battles fun, reluctantly consented but only if they split up so the job could be done faster. The group agreed to separate into three teams of two, Raven instantly (and predictably) opting to go with Judith.<p>

"Oh? But I want to go with Yuri," Judith said innocently. Estelle made a little squeak of protest, which she tried to cover up by going into a coughing fit.

"Um, are you alright Estelle?" Karol quipped. Estelle smiled at the boy. "I'm fine, thank you Karol."

The rest of the group were a little less oblivious.

"Okay! So how about I go with Judith, Yuri goes with Estelle, and the kids go together?" Raven said cheerfully. Rita shot her trademark death glare at him.

"Like hell I'm going with that runt! And I'm definitely not gonna go with you either, pervert old man!"

"I wanted to go with Judith anyway-"

"But Yuri…"

"Y-Yuri-"

"Hey! I'm not a runt!"

Yuri sighed. "Guys!"

The group quietened and looked at him quizzically. Yuri shook his head.

"There's a really easy way to settle this you know…"

x.x.x

And so, the teams of two were determined by an odd variation of rock-paper-scissors, Rita silencing any protests from Raven with a swift chop to the head. As it turned out, Judith was paired with Karol, Estelle with Raven, and Yuri with Rita.

"We'll meet back at Mantaic before sundown!" Karol called. Yuri just waved a hand dismissively, noticing that Rita was already far ahead of him. Knowing how much the young mage hated the Sands of Kogorh, Yuri assumed she probably wanted to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. The sounds of his companions faded away, leaving him alone with a certain Rita Mordio.

Not that he minded. Much. Or rather, he wouldn't have, if there wasn't a very big problem concerning her current attire.

The next hour or so in the desert passed by slowly. Yuri had somewhat successfully distracted himself with the battles, but they were hardly facing difficult opponents. Not to mention the fact that he and Rita made an admittedly decent team – He held the enemies at the front, she blew them up when she was done casting. It was becoming more noticeable however that with each passing encounter, Rita's casting speed gradually decreased.

Once Yuri delivered the finishing blow onto a fire spirit, he glanced behind him. Rita's posture was slightly hunched over, and she swayed slightly. He took a few long strides towards her and held her by the shoulders, when she looked like she was about to pass out. He examined her reddened face and slightly laboured breathing.

"Rita?" he murmured, concern lacing his voice.

Weakly, Rita batted his hands away. "I'm fine."

Yuri scratched his head. Maybe he did get a little carried away with the excessive fighting. Estelle wasn't here, so healing artes were out of the question.

"Anyway, we should head back. We've done enough."

Without protest, Rita turned towards the direction of Mantaic, speed picking up slightly now that she knew she would get a break soon. Yuri watched her for a moment, before exhaling and proceeding to follow her.

Yuri Lowell didn't think he was the type of man to go after jailbait until he met her. Scratch that – Upon their first encounter, he was fully convinced that she was the aque blastia thief he had been trying to track down and confronted her accordingly. She was sharp-tongued, caustic, temperamental, and downright _unpleasant_ to be around, so he never would have dreamed that he'd want her in any way –

Or that he'd have to try so hard just to keep his poker face up.

_Easy, Lowell. Keep your cool._

It was difficult, however, when a furry black tail kept swishing right in front of him. And naturally (it's not like it was his fault) his eyes occasionally trailed along the swishy tail to rest on the derriere of a certain short-tempered mage. Inwardly he smirked. He would definitely be at the receiving end of a series of fireballs if he was caught staring. Along with much shrieking of "pervert!" and "you're no better than the old man!". As if the girl in front of him read his mind, she stopped abruptly and spun around, eyes narrowed.

"Yuri! Behind you!"

Yuri whirled around instantly, pulling out his sword to block the oncoming attack from the cockatrice. With ease, he swung to put some distance between himself and the creature. It squawked angrily, preparing to strike again, but Yuri closed in on it swiftly, slashing vertically at its heart with pinpoint precision. His blade spun through the air in an arc above his head before he caught it lazily in his left hand. He glanced behind him to see the runic circle beneath Rita's feet fade.

The said mage placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"The hell was that?" she shot at him. Her words were barbed and dripping, like always, but he knew that underneath the thorny layers lay a well of concern. He was about sixty percent sure, anyway.

"The monsters here are weak," Yuri replied with a shrug. Rita looked unconvinced.

"You know, you've been really out of it lately," Rita stated pointedly. Her eyes were drilling holes into him he was certain, but he refused to look at her. He couldn't. The silence stretched out, becoming unnerving even for the short-fused teen.

"H-Hey… You alright?"

Yuri blinked, and finally turned to face her. His mouth curved upwards slightly. Rita noticed this and scowled.

"W-what's that look for? It's not like I'm worried about you or anything, it's just that… I…" Rita trailed off, flustered. She stared at the ground. "Well I wouldn't want you to get us killed just because you were zoning out!"

"Alright, alright, I believe you," Yuri said in amusement. He was pleasantly surprised that she could even muster up such concern for him, exhausted as she was. He reached his hand out to ruffle her hair. He realized too late that it was a mistake however, as his hand accidentally brushed against the object of his unnatural fixation. He froze, willing himself to tear his hand away, but unable to do so. Thankfully, Rita swatted his arm off with a glare.

"Idiot!" she bit out before stomping off. Yuri sighed. Things were going to get out of hand soon if he didn't control himself.

…Why was she still wearing that get-up anyway?

He remembered when she first put it on at Dahngrest not too long ago, after the manager had insisted that she keep it for her excellent service. And then… well…

"Yuri! You coming or what?"

Yuri sighed, following after the girl with more than a little reluctance. The ears were the problem, anyway.

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><p><strong>FIN. Hmmm. Was originally going to be a oneshot, but I'm splitting the chapters. Soooo it'll (hopefully) end up with a few chapters. Not too many though.<strong>  
><strong>And yes I know the cat ears thing is overdone. Gimme a chance ok? :D It just... can't not be done XD<strong>


	2. Whips and Chains

**AN: Ummm... I guess I should give you guys the time when these events take place. Just to hide how jumbled up this story actually is. Anyway I guess you could say this is pre-Myorzo? Probably after fighting Brucis (yep, that annoying giganto freak) in Egothor Forest.**

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><p>"Judith darlin'!" Raven cried, running towards the Krityan at full speed until Rita rather comically tripped him up so that his face smacked into the ground. The mage girl walked up to him and swiftly stamped her foot onto his back.<p>

"Just let Estelle handle it, okay?" she hissed.

Yuri couldn't help but watch them – her. He was worried about Judith too, but he was sure the wounds were nothing Estelle couldn't handle. He glanced over at Judith leaning against the trunk of a large tree, and Estelle kneeling beside her. True enough, the young healer was fervently using her healing artes to aid the older female, who looked at her with a smile, despite the severity of her injuries. Once he was certain Judith would be okay, Yuri's eyes magnetically returned his attention to Rita.

The mage was wearing her normal garments, but her tunic had hitched up her left leg which she was using to keep her foot on Raven, exposing the creamy skin of her thigh even more than usual. She looked so… dominant above the old man, her left hand on her hip, and her right hand hanging by her side. But what made Yuri's eye twitch ever so slightly was the object being held in the mage's hand, which just so happened to be her choice of weapon.

For the life of him, Yuri could not figure out why Rita opted to use whips and chains.

And they had synthesized so many of them too, Yuri thought in dismay, even though it wasn't really the girl's fault. The materials always decided for them what weapons they made.

Rita finally stepped off Raven, who picked himself up slowly, rubbing his back.

"You're so cold to an old man, Rita!" Raven whined. "I'm just worried, that's all!"

Rita sighed. "Whatever. Just don't get in Estelle's way."

Raven gave a mock bow of appreciation, and hurried over to the two girls by the tree. Yuri grinned inwardly. It was weird, seeing a teenager lecturing an old man like that.

Suddenly, Rita turned towards Yuri with a frown. Yuri blinked. Damn.

The mage continued to glare at him with an expression that read '_You__'__d-better-have-a-damn-good-__reason-for-staring-or-you__'__re-going-to-get-the-biggest-smack-down-of-your-life_.'

Poker-face time.

"Hmm? What's up, Rita?" Yuri asked coolly as if he were just noticing she was there. Poker-face success.

Rita was not amused. "You shouldn't be spacing out, you know! What if Estelle's the one who gets beat up next time?"

That stung. Yuri slowly walked towards Rita until the gap between them dwindled to mere centimetres. Rita's eyes widened considerably. He noticed vaguely just how much he towered over her when he looked down at her.

"Listen," he said quietly. "I take our battles just as seriously as everyone else, and I understand that we're risking our lives whenever we go up against any creature or opponent."

A tiny bead of sweat made its lazy trail down the side of Rita's face. Yuri had half a mind to lick it off.

Where was he, again? Ah.

"I look out for all my comrades, so I promise you, I will protect Estelle. Not only her, but everyone in our group."

Rita nodded mutely, staring hard at the ground. Yuri smiled. Now that he got his point across, he decided to pat the mage on the head a few times.

"That's why you shouldn't worry!" he finished with a slight grin. Rita scowled, forcefully pushing the swordsman away.

"Ugh! Back off, idiot!" Rita yelled, a slight redness settling onto her features. Yuri hid a laugh as she stormed off muttering something about "personal space".

Yuri walked over to the rest of the group, who had now gathered under large tree where Judith was leaning her back against. He gently placed a hand on Estelle's shoulder.

"How are we doing?" Yuri asked. Estelle looked up at him, smiling in an attempt to hide her obvious exhaustion.

"Judith will be fine - she just needs some rest. Right Judith?"

The Krityan laughed delicately. "Thanks Estelle, but I think you should worry about yourself a little more."

Yuri eyed the princess in concern. "She's right, you know."

"Oh, I'm fine, really," Estelle insisted, although she swayed dangerously. Yuri tightened his grip on her shoulder so she wouldn't fall.

"Sure," Yuri said, shaking his head. "So I guess we're setting up camp here, right Captain Karol?"

Karol grinned. "Two steps ahead of ya, Yuri!"

x.x.x

Darkness fell faster than Yuri had anticipated. He even suspected that midnight drew near. Typically, most of their group would be asleep by now, except for Judith who was forced to rest anyway because she was injured, and Repede who was the group's unofficial night guard. Yuri also usually stayed up a little later than everyone else just because he was a restless person. A man of action is, well, a man of action.

He wasn't too surprised, however, to find Rita sitting on a log near the fire reading a rather thick book. Yuri watched her engrossed in its pages for a while before taking a seat beside her.

"Hey Rita, can I ask you something?"

Rita looked over the book she was reading to peer at Yuri with narrowed eyes.

"…Sure. What is it?"

Yuri's face was composed, but in his mind he hesitated. Deciding to disregard the consequences, he popped his question.

"Why do you use a whip when you fight?"

Rita stared. Yuri held her gaze calmly. So she looked away first, like always.

"Well why wouldn't I? They're similar to sashes, so I feel comfortable using them when I'm casting."

"Yeah, but why don't you stick with a sash then?"

Rita scrutinized Yuri once more. "You're asking some weird questions, Lowell."

"I'm just curious."

"Sure… Anyway, there are some skills I can acquire from whips that I can't from sashes. That's an obvious enough reason, isn't it?"

"I see…" Yuri murmured. He stared at the fire. Sensing that he wasn't quite satisfied with her answer, Rita snapped her book shut with a sigh.

"Well I guess they do more physical damage too. Not that I know too well, since I'm usually just casting."

Yuri cracked a smile. "So they just look more dangerous?"

Rita scowled. "Well I could try it on you, to make sure!"

_Yes you could._

"…I think I'll pass." Yuri muttered, averting his gaze. Rita laughed, unaware of why Yuri was so uncomfortable.

"I was just teasing, Yuri," she said, grinning at him. It was not often that she got a one-up on him after all.

"Teasing… Yeah…" Yuri said distractedly. Rita yawned, stretching her arms.

"I'm gonna get some shut-eye," Rita said, standing up and brushing herself off. "You shouldn't stay up too late either."

"I know."

She had walked only a few steps before she turned around and stood behind Yuri. She leaned down slightly, her mouth so close to his ear that he could feel the warmth of her breathing. Yuri sat perfectly still, not quite knowing what else to do.

"You should look after yourself you know, otherwise you won't be able to keep your promise about protecting us," she whispered. "And if you don't…"

There was a near tangible pause, in which Yuri barely managed to suppress a shiver.

"…I've got plenty of whips and chains that I've been _dying_ to try out."

Rita straightened, smirk in place, before she retreated to her tent.

Only when he could no longer hear Rita's footsteps did Yuri release the breath he was holding. It took a few more minutes for his brain to start functioning properly again.

_What the hell?_

When did Rita get so bold? Just when Yuri thought his day couldn't get any more messed up, Raven decided to pull his appear-out-of-nowhere trick, where he sat next to Yuri, grinning like an idiot.

"What do you want, old man?" Yuri muttered. Raven ignored his question, still looking irritatingly gleeful.

"Oh, don't play dumb with me, kid," Raven said, using Yuri's shoulder as an armrest. "I heard every word of your conversation with our genius mage."

Yuri shrugged him off with a grimace. He couldn't even say anything to back himself up.

"…Well, to be honest I didn't quite catch that last bit she whispered oh-so-seductively into your ear," Raven continued, looking at Yuri expectantly.

"I'm not about to fill you in, then." Yuri said shortly. Raven snickered.

"Musta' been something kinky then- ow!"

"Drop it." Yuri said dangerously. Raven rubbed his shoulder, wincing a little.

"Alright Yuri, I'm not here to antagonize you or anything," Raven said. Yuri rolled his eyes, but remained silent so Raven continued.

"I've seen you staring at her weapons anyway. I mean sure, innocent ones like Karol and Estelle won't pick up on this kinda thing, Judith's a maybe, but my point is…" Raven sucked in a breath. "Is there anything more to it? Or are you normally this gutter-minded?"

Yuri didn't say anything. He had never really thought about it. If his recent bouts of speechlessness were any clue then…

…He had absolutely no idea.

So he decided to slug Raven on the shoulder again. Yuri grinned at the old man, who yelped in pain.

"Thanks for worrying about me, old man. But I think I'll be fine."

"Eheh. Don't mention it," Raven replied, smiling weakly. Yuri returned the smile good-naturedly.

"I'll turn in then," Yuri said, getting up to return to his tent. "What about you?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll hit the hay soon enough."

Yuri shrugged and walked off. As he did, Raven couldn't resist one last jibe.

"I had no idea you were a masochist, Yuri Lowell."

Yuri wasn't sure about what bothered him more - the obliviousness of a fifteen-year-old girl, or the inappropriate comments of an older man, whose words may or may not hold an alarming amount of truth in them.

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><p><strong>Hehe. If you guys have also noticed anything even remotely "weird" about Rita *wink wink* please. Let me know straight away :D Yuri can't be alone in his genius mage tsunderita fantasies.<strong>


	3. Tsunderita

**AN: ****Ummm... This chapter is pretty silly and... oddly fluffy, just warning you now. Looks like my chapters are getting gradually longer too. Good for you guys, right?**

**Don't know what a tsundere is? Google it XD**

**TIMELINE: Set in Myorzo, just before Raven steals away poor, poor, princess Estellise D: Don't mind it if the details are strange. It's fanfiction... riiiight?**

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><p>"Yuri!"<p>

The ex-knight looked up from his daily blade-cleaning to find a certain pink haired princess looking down at him with her arms crossed, shoulders tensed, and a serious expression on her face. Yuri panicked a little but like usual, all the princess saw was a blank face, which Yuri had artfully adorned with mild curiosity.

"What's up, Estelle?" he said as casually as possible. The princess reddened slightly, but continued to stare at him head-on. Yuri was bewildered. What could he have done this time?

"I-It's just… that I… uh…"

Yuri was slightly amused now. Estelle didn't trip on her words too often. It was kind of cute. Yuri carefully placed his blade along with the cloth he was using on the ground, before standing up to face Estelle properly.

"Go on," he encouraged. Estelle nodded, mostly to herself before she started speaking again with a firm resolution in her voice.

"Yuri," she said, eyes burning with a fierce determination. "I want to know… what type of girl do you like best?"

Yuri's eyes widened as he finally realised where this conversation was headed. He mentally slapped himself for not noticing earlier.

"Ah…" Yuri said slowly, trying to buy time. "I haven't really thought about it I guess…"

Estelle's face fell. "O-Oh…"

Yuri felt bad, but what could he do about it, really? Estelle and her ridiculously selfless ways had grown on him so much and so quickly that there was not a doubt in his mind that he loved her. He wanted to protect her, because she was so pure, and this world wasn't. He wasn't.

Simply put, he could not return her affections the way she wanted him to, and he knew he could never be more than a protective, supportive big brother to her.

"Yuri…" Estelle murmured, a faint blush dusting her cheeks. Yuri looked at her seriously, preparing himself for whatever she would say next.

"…Are you gay?"

…_What?_

Yuri gawked at her for a long time. He looked so stunned and silly, that Estelle couldn't help giggling.

"Wow, Yuri… I don't think I've ever seen that expression on your face."

"Wha- wait! Estelle! That's not…"

Estelle laughed again. "It's okay to admit it Yuri!"

"But-" Yuri spluttered. This conversation was not going where he wanted it to. "Damn it, I'm not gay!"

"Oh?" Estelle looked genuinely surprised. "Then you're asexual?"

Yuri sighed, still fighting to regain his composure. "I don't even know where that came from…"

"Well, you don't have a type you go for…" Estelle pointed out.

"Hey, all I said was that I hadn't really thought about it," Yuri said, slightly miffed. "Gimme a moment, okay."

"A moment for what?"

Yuri would have been thankful for an opportunity to escape the princess' interrogation, but hearing that distinct sultry voice only served to agitate him further.

Raven was not the only member of their group who was sharp about certain delicate issues, and Judith could add up numbers far faster than Yuri was comfortable with.

"I…"

"Yuri was just telling me about his type," Estelle filled in helpfully. Immediately though, her features grew wary. Judith paid her no heed however, as she graced Yuri with a stare that made him slightly uncomfortable.

"Is that so?" Judith said, her smile widening. Yuri looked away. He knew he couldn't keep a passive face if he kept eye contact with her. Estelle looked back and forth between the two in confusion.

"Is something wrong?" Estelle said, after a long, tense pause.

"Oh…" Judith looked at Estelle as if finally noticing she was there. "You wanted to know Yuri's type, didn't you Estelle?"

Estelle nodded vigorously, much to the Krityan's delight.

"Judy…" Yuri warned, casting the woman a look which she quite happily ignored.

"If I had to make a guess," Judith said slowly, drawing out her words, if only to tease the princess. "Yuri has quite the thing for... the 'tsundere' type."

Yuri tensed. What the hell did that mean?

As if to answer his unvoiced question, Estelle began to recite, "Tsundere – A combination of the archetypes 'tsuntsun' and 'deredere' describing a person with an outwardly cold, hostile, or aggressive personality, however beneath this exterior, they are in fact warm and caring towards people they become close to."

By the time Estelle had finished her recollection from the depths of her near photographic memory, Yuri's face was unnaturally pale. There was one person that Yuri couldn't keep out of his mind during this entire conversation with Estelle, and the princess had just described her almost flawlessly.

"That's right," Judith said, beaming. Estelle's face lit up, happy to finally have an answer.

"Just to make sure though," she said, with renewed determination. "So is it true that you really like tsundere-type girls, Yuri?"

x.x.x

"…She doesn't get it, does she?"

Judith giggled, glancing down at the swordsman sitting on the steps beside her.

"Of course she doesn't. That's why I told her," Judith said, her ruby eyes glinting playfully in the moonlight. Yuri sighed, hunching forward so he could rest his elbows on his knees.

"That doesn't make any sense at all," Yuri groused, running a hand through his dark locks. He had just endured a day of Estelle glaring at him, smiling at him, insulting him, complimenting him, slapping him, hugging him, and damn near anything and everything else that was jarringly contradictory in personality. The strange behaviour was mainly directed towards himself, but occasionally other members of the group got involved("You okay, Estelle?" "That's none of your concern, Rita!" "…Huh?" "I'm sorry. I'm actually so happy you're worried about me!" "…Oookay..."). Needless to say, the rest of the party were more than slightly disturbed.

Although, Estelle had been strangely quiet after their visit to the Elder. Everyone had been lost in their own thoughts for a while. In fact, Yuri had no idea why he was joking around with Judith at a time like this, knowing what he knew now.

Judith just smiled knowingly. "Come now. I was only telling her the truth."

"Truth, huh…," Yuri muttered. "What was that 'tsundere' crap anyway? I've never even heard of that word."

"It's Krityan."

"…Really?"

Yuri narrowed his eyes, gazing at her carefully. "I don't believe you."

"Oh, I've never been very good at lying," Judith said innocently. Yuri just laughed. "Right."

The pair heard a set of light footsteps approaching behind them. Yuri closed his eyes. He could tell whose they were without even looking.

Maybe this really was getting out of hand.

"My, isn't it a little past your curfew?" Judith teased. Rita scowled, curling her small hands into fists.

"Ugh, shut up. You wouldn't be able to sleep either, with the runt that close by," Rita said darkly. "He keeps talking in his sleep, whining about his girlfriend."

"That's concerning," Judith mused. "Maybe he's really worried about her this time."

"Who cares? The kid should just toughen up and quit being so indecisive. Otherwise he really will get dumped."

Judith giggled. "Tehe. You're cute, Rita."

"W-What? Where the hell did that come from?"

"Well, you're actually worried about Karol, aren't you?"

"Am n-not!"

Judith briefly turned towards Yuri.

"Tsundere," she whispered to him with a smug look. Yuri cocked an eyebrow in return.

"I might try to get some sleep too then," Judith said cheerily.

"Gah, didn't you hear what I just said?" Rita said, shaking her head.

"But you wanted to talk to Yuri alone, didn't you?" Judith said, knowing eyes trained on the mage who suddenly looked like she had been caught.

"What makes you say that?" Rita retorted defensively. Judith smiled smugly, shooting the girl a wink before sauntering inside. Rita sighed, and sat down one step above Yuri. The dark-haired man let the silence hang between them for a while, before finally turning to face her.

"Hey, uh… Rita?" Yuri waved a hand in her face. Rita blinked.

"You sure zone out quickly," Yuri said with a light smile. Rita flushed a little, scratching her head. "Yeah…"

Yuri waited for her to continue. She didn't.

But she didn't look like she was about to leave either.

"If there's something on your mind, just say it," Yuri said clearly.

"Who says there's something on my mind?" Rita snapped.

"Edgy little mage," Yuri muttered.

"What did you say?"

"…Nothing."

Yuri picked up a stone on the ground and mindlessly started scratching onto the step he was sitting on. Rita raised an eyebrow at him.

"Bored? Why aren't you in there?" Rita nodded her head towards their resting quarters. Yuri threw the stone away, the clacking sound it made as it hit the ground unusually loud.

"Why aren't you?"

"Hmph. I just can't sleep."

"Same here."

"Yeah, right."

Rita didn't say any more, however, feeling somewhat relieved that she had some company. Leaning forward, she rested her head on her arms. Yuri looked at her carefully.

"You're worried about Estelle."

Rita kept silent, much to Yuri's chagrin. With a sigh, the older man stood up. Rita looked up at him, then looked away quickly. Yuri's heart stopped for a moment. He didn't miss it. In that instant, he saw past her usual mask.

Try as he might, he just couldn't ignore the deep-seated loneliness that had etched themselves onto her features.

Yuri swallowed thickly, feeling a tad uncertain. He knelt down in front of her, placing a firm hand on her shoulder. For once, she didn't push him away.

"Get some sleep, okay?" he said simply. He grimaced inwardly at how lame, and how empty he must have sounded He searched his mind for something more profound to say, but when he came up blank, his hand left her should and he started to head inside.

The sound of Rita's cracked voice stopped him in his tracks.

"S-So what if I am worried? Aren't you?"

Yuri turned around. He saw Rita's hunched, slightly trembling figure outlined gently by the filtered moonlight, and his heart went out to her.

"I told you before, didn't I? I'll protect everyone."

"Yeah? Well what are we gonna do about Estelle then?" Rita said angrily. "Her power is… I… What _can_ we do?"

"We don't know yet."

"Exactly!"

"So we'll just figure out something like always."

"Agh! It's not that simple!" Rita hissed, back still turned. "You… you're always so carefree, doing whatever you want, even getting yourself chased down by the knights…"

"I wouldn't say I was carefree," Yuri muttered, though he was curious as to where Rita was headed.

"You know what you're doing all the time, and you make life look so damn _easy_ because you never hesitate and somehow we all get swept along with you," Rita said bitterly. "It makes me so mad, but i-if I was honest… I…"

Yuri had to strain his ears to hear the last part.

"…I wish I was like you."

He was slightly shocked to say the least. Her confession made his head spin and he wasn't sure if he was ready to deal with her candor. Then again it was probably a good thing she was opening up to him. Probably. He heard her laugh hollowly.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you this… but…" she trailed off, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Rita…" he said softly. He returned to where she was, and gingerly sat down next to her. Once again, she didn't say anything. He could really get used to this subdued side of hers, he thought, smiling inwardly.

"I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm not as strong as you think I am. And as much as I hate to admit it, I can't do anything about Estelle's power."

Rita's head turned to stare at him blankly, digesting his words.

"That's why I… we… need you. If there's anyone who can get Estelle's formula under control, it's you. So," Yuri took a breath. "You can't quit on us now."

"Not that I would let you anyway," Yuri added, throwing her a smile. "I'd be breaking my promise if I did."

Rita gave him a weird look. Yuri was slightly dismayed at her reaction. Did his pep talks suck that much? Eventually, though, Rita's face softened, and she let out a small laugh.

"Pffft. You idiot! Of course I'll figure something out!" she burst out cockily. Yuri grinned.

"And the ever so modest Rita Mordio is back!" he said teasingly.

"You betcha," she shot back, playing along. She laughed again, feeling lighter. "I guess we're the Estelle protection team now?"

"Ah, yeah…" Yuri agreed, though his heart sank a little. That wasn't quite what he was going for… Then again…

He shook his head. What was he thinking?

"You know," Rita said thoughtfully, drawing Yuri back from his thoughts. "You're not so bad…"

Yuri perked up, staring at Rita strangely. She blushed a little and looked away.

"You're still an idiot, though," she added quickly, though her tone lacked its usual venom. Abruptly, she stood and hastily muttered a 'good night' before fleeing into the building they were staying at. Yuri remained seated for a long time.

"…And you're a damned _tsundere_, but why should it matter to me…" Yuri muttered, pressing his face into his hands.

* * *

><p><strong>I think next chapter will be more fun :]<strong>


	4. Dirty

**AN: ...The chapter length increased again OTL I'm going nuts. Anyway, huge thank you to my reviewers for feedback and support :] Hopefully I can keep you all amused. I watched all the vesperia skits recently and... just lol.**

**TIMELINE: Aboard the Heracles (i.e. operation save Estellise! and give-Alexei-a-good-beating is in progress)**

* * *

><p>The party watched helplessly as Rita stormed ahead of them, burning every knight, monster, and machine that stood in her way. She was on edge – they all were. But now she was even more worked up than usual.<p>

"Huh? What's everyone looking at me for?" Yuri said, looking around at the sets of curious and accusatory looks on him. He winced, however, when he heard painful screams ahead of them, followed by Rita's angry voice yelling for them to hurry up. Raven shook his head, an amused expression on his face.

"You're real smooth ya know?" he commented, as the group started to follow after the mage. Yuri groaned.

"It's not my fault, alright? She's the one who can't take a quip every now and then," he muttered. Distractedly, he fired an azure edge at a charging knight. The corners of Judith's mouth tugged upwards as she swung her spear in an arc above her head before bring it down to crush an imperial bishop before her.

"'_Always wanted to hold hands..._' Oh Yuri…" Judith chuckled, mirth showing openly on her features. "What about me? Don't you want to hold hands with me too?"

"Ah, hell," Yuri said exasperatedly. He rushed past another knight, thrusting forward, before swinging back both his body and blade around to cut horizontally across the knight's exposed back. He heard another knight yell as clunky armoured steps sped towards him from behind. Using his momentum, he continued to spin, forcefully knocking his blade against the knight's spear. The knight yelped in surprise as he was thrown off balance, and Yuri took the opportunity to slam the hilt of his sword against his helmet. The knight groaned, before keeling over on the ground. Yuri kicked him again to make sure he was unconscious.

"We done?" Yuri called out, glancing at the damage they had caused. He felt bad for the ones Rita dealt with. Which, due to her current tempestuous mood, happened to be most of them.

"Yeah, we're clear!" Karol replied, adding a precautious extra smash to the broken robot next to him. Raven, Judith, and Repede agreed.

"Right…" Yuri said, worried that Rita might get too far ahead. "Let's get a move on."

And so the party moved forward.

Until they reached a series of impenetrable barriers.

"U-Uhh… Yuri…" Karol squeaked, hiding behind the taller man.

"Yeah, I know," Yuri said, brows furrowing. A few steps away from them, Rita stood in front of the translucent barrier, looking for all the world like she was about to explode. He crossed his arms, wondering what to do about her. Her anger was great for dealing with enemies but now… she just wasn't thinking straight.

Not that his earlier remark helped he would admit, but really, he was just being his usual self and the words just slipped out as naturally as he swung his blade.

Suddenly the barrier in front of them crackled and faltered, before eventually fading entirely. Yuri turned around to see Judith smiling at him, spear in hand, and the wreckage of a strange-looking device protruding from the ground next to her.

"I'm guessing these are the barrier controls," she said, gesturing next to her. Yuri grinned.

"Nice one, Judy," he said. The group looked at the remaining barriers in front of them.

"Hmmmm," Raven said, looking thoughtful. "Looks like there are about three or four more."

"So annoying…" Rita muttered. Loudly, she added, "What the hell are we standing around for? Let's find them!"

Yuri, Judith, and Raven exchanged glances.

"Rita…" Judith began evenly. "You need to calm down-"

"I don't need to calm down! It's you guys who are all WAY too relaxed – Have you forgotten why we're here?"

"Hey, genius mage," Raven said quietly. "Shouting ain't gonna help anyone-"

"DID HANDING ESTELLE OVER TO ALEXEI HELP?" Rita yelled.

Looking like he had just been slapped hard across the face, Raven backed down, head bowed. Immediately, regret flashed across Rita's face, before her usual stubbornness kicked in again. Huffing, she crossed her arms, staring hard at the ground. Karol fidgeted nervously eyes darting everywhere, while Repede whined at the rising tension. Judith was the first to break the silence.

"Since Rita… Since we all want to clean this up as fast as possible, why don't we split up," Judith suggested.

Yuri arched an eyebrow. "Can't argue with that… But who-"

"We're going to take the ladder over there," Judith cut in, cheerfully grabbing Raven and Karol by the backs of their collars. "You three can take the left path when we diverge."

"Hey, hang on a sec…" Yuri started, running to catch up to the Krityan.

"Yuri, we don't have much time you know," Judith murmured, once he was close. She nodded in Rita's direction. "Also, it seems you may be best suited for… pacifying our little mage girl."

"Ha ha," Yuri said sarcastically. "Shouldn't you do it? Have a girl to girl chat or something? I'm probably the worst at this sort of thing." Judith sighed.

"Look, Yuri," she said plainly. "I don't think Rita and I are quite on good terms yet, probably because I still keep so many secrets. Raven gets on Rita's nerves a lot more now because of what he's done and that's not something that can be quickly fixed. Karol annoys Rita because… well, because he's Karol."

She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and maybe she had a point. He still wasn't convinced though. He just wasn't cut out to be a guidance counsellor.

"…Agh, alright! Fine," Yuri said, throwing his hands up. Repede barked ahead of him – Rita had already covered a lot of ground.

"Hey, Rita!" Yuri called as he strode quickly to catch up with her. The mage turned to scowl at him, with her hands on her hips. "Don't slow me do-"

"Duck!" Yuri yelled. Rita's eyes widened and she hit the ground just in time for Yuri to slice above her head at the knight sneaking up behind her. Yuri's blade collided hard with the knight's helmet, causing him to grunt and stagger. Quickly, Rita struck at him with her chain, uttering the name of strike formula Yuri was unfamiliar with. A spark travelled down the chain towards the end still connected with the knight, which abruptly exploded, blasting the knight away. Yuri gave a low whistle. Rita reddened slightly and looked away from him.

"Um… th-tha-"

"Don't mention it," Yuri said shortly. "Let's go."

The duo didn't get very far, before they spotted a device similar to the one Judith had destroyed. Rita glared down at it from the upper level they were currently standing on. "Ugh, down there?"

Yuri placed a hand on her shoulder when she started to make for the ladder nearby. Catching her attention, he pointed to the blastia crates they had set into motion earlier, when they had fiddled with a small control panel in another area of the Heracles.

"You don't mean…!" Rita said, catching on.

"I do," Yuri stated, already taking aim with the Sorcerer's Ring. Rita moved to stand in front of him, arms spread out. Yuri sighed, lowering his hand.

"What is it?"

"I… I don't think we should destroy more blastia than necessary," she said, looking determined. Yuri folded his arms.

"What's the plan then?"

"Blow up that fence around it, then blow up the device," came Rita's swift answer.

"…Fine."

Yuri started down the ladder first, with Rita following, albeit at a much slower pace. Repede waited at the top, assigned by Yuri to look out for enemies.

Uh… You alright?" he asked, once they both reached the lower level.

"I'm fine!" Rita said a little too quickly. Yuri eyed her slightly trembling figure disbelievingly, but said nothing. He stepped away from the metal fence, gesturing for Rita to take it down. The mage calmed down, moving into her regular casting position. A glowing orange formula appeared underneath her, and after reciting the incantation, she shot fireballs towards the fence. The fence glowed a little as the fireballs made contact with it, but there was no impact. It was as if the fence had absorbed the fireballs.

"You're kidding…" Rita said in vexation. She tried a stone blast but once again, it was ineffective. Yuri raised an eyebrow.

"Nice try," he remarked. "Wanna go back up now?"

Rita frowned. "Hold on... It's just magically reinforced."

"So…?"

"You could just give me a boost," Rita stated, running over to the fence. Yuri moved to join her, but he looked unconvinced about her plan.

"How are you going to get back?"

Rita thought for a moment. "Look - There are some crates on the other side, so I could just use them to get back. Now come on, already."

Yuri shrugged, crouching down, so Rita could climb onto him – er, his shoulders. His eye twitched a little. Yuri felt Rita's weight shifting precariously, so he held onto her ankles while she leaned against the top of the fence.

It eventually occurred to him, that he could have a rather nice view if he looked up. Yuri's throat ran dry. He shut his eyes, not really in the mood to face the consequences if his wandering eyes were caught.

"Ow, Yuri, let go, already!"

"Oh. My bad."

He released her, lowering his hands slowly. Carefully, Rita swung herself over. Yuri breathed a sigh of relief once he felt her weight disappear from his shoulders. Rita took aim once more, and launched another set of fireballs, causing the device to burn momentarily before exploding in a crackling mix of light, aer, and smoke.

"You okay, over there?" Yuri called when he heard Rita hack and wave away the smog. She coughed out an affirmative, and hurried over to climb onto the crates. Just as she was about to swing herself over again, she lost her footing, crying out as she fell forward. The next second was a blur, as Yuri instinctively moved to catch her, and then-

"Oof!"

Yuri groaned, rubbing his head. He blinked blearily, as his vision came into focus. He froze, when he saw Rita's face inches from his, her large olive green eyes fixed on him in concern.

"Uh…" He stared. She stared back.

"You're not hurt are you?"

"I guess not…"

"Well, good," Rita stated, the soft look on her face immediately replaced by her usual frown. "It'd be a pain if you were injured."

"Yeah…" Yuri muttered. His mind was too focused on other matters, to properly register what she was saying.

Like how very snugly she was pressed up against him. Yuri marvelled and agonized over how soft she was. His heart pounded. He felt very uncomfortable in this position but at the same time he was perfectly content. He had never felt himself so torn and indecisive between his will and his desire, but his will was crumbling dangerously, much like the cookies Estelle had tried making that one dreary morning, and it would be so, _so_ easy to close the tiny gap between them and – and –

_Why wasn't she moving?_

"Your face," Yuri managed around the lump in his throat as he scrambled for something else to think about. "It's dirty."

"Yeah? So what?" Rita retorted, wiping carelessly at the soot on her face with her sleeve. Before he could stop himself, or even realise what he was doing, Yuri's hand brought itself up to brush the back of his fingers lightly against her right cheekbone where she had missed a spot.

Instantly, Rita leapt away from him, as though she had been electrified. She stared at him with wide eyes, face flushed. Yuri blinked dumbly.

Was she really that lacking in self-awareness?

When he raised his eyes to meet hers, she quickly turned away from him slightly, the same shocked expression never leaving her face. Mechanically, Yuri pushed himself off the ground, brushing himself off as he straightened. He was relieved to find his body functioning normally again, as though their proximity was a fog that had just been lifted, leaving his mind wonderfully clear again.

"Ready to look around some more?" he said amiably, as though nothing strange had happened. Rita ran a hand through her hair, taking only a little bit longer than Yuri to compose herself. She looked at him head on, only a tinge of redness still lingering on her cheeks.

"O-Okay then," Rita said. She walked past him, attention drawn to another small control panel on the other end of the platform. Yuri followed her, watching as she inspected the machine. Then he noticed another black smudge on her forehead.

"Hey, Rita?" Yuri asked.

"…What?" came the deadpan response, as she looked at him, the faintest signs of irritation starting to form on her features. It almost deterred Yuri from asking his next question but alarmingly, he found that he just couldn't resist.

"You really don't mind being dirty?"

Rita's brow furrowed, as she looked away from him.

"You mean there's still soot on my face? Who cares?" Rita bit out, although she rubbed at her face again self-consciously. Yuri watched her in amusement. She probably just didn't want a repeat of earlier.

"Looks like you do," he commented offhandedly. Rita scowled, dropping her hand to her side.

"A little dirt won't kill you," she said lowly. Yuri shrugged. "I thought girls liked being clean."

"Why does it even matter?" Rita hissed at him. "I'll be as dirty as I want!"

Yuri swallowed yet another oncoming lump beginning to form in his throat. _Incredible_… he thought, shaking his head.

"In fact," Rita added thoughtfully. "I haven't showered in eight days now."

"…A little too much information there," Yuri said wryly, but he felt his cheeks heating up rapidly. He couldn't possibly be turned on by this… could he? He mentally groaned, slapping his inner self. What the hell was wrong with him?

An unladylike snort brought him back to reality. "So you mean to tell me that you've kept yourself squeaky clean during this entire journey?"

Yuri looked at her blankly. Then a sly smile spread across his face. "I shower every day."

Surprise flitted across Rita's face, before disbelief hastily pushed it away. "Yeah right! Where do you even get the water for a daily shower?"

"Tidal Wave," Yuri answered immediately, keeping a straight face. Rita's eyes widened, caught off-guard by his response.

"Y-You're joking!" she huffed, crossing her arms.

"It's true, though," Yuri said seriously. "I always have a bar of soap handy when we're in battle. I think the whole party does. Judy definitely, at least."

"Gah, stop it already!" Rita spluttered. Yuri's lips twitched upwards. The look on her face was priceless.

"And you're too busy casting to notice us scrubbing away at our hands before every meal…" Yuri continued, unable to suppress a grin as Rita let out a very uncharacteristic giggle at the mental image.

"Y-You're terrible!" Rita blurted, clutching her sides. Yuri looked at her smugly.

"I'd offer you a soap bar too, if you weren't the one using the magic," he noted, feigning thoughtfulness. Rita smirked wildly at him.

"You guys can do whatever you want. I _especially_ wouldn't want to deprive you of the chance to maintain your dark, oh so silky locks."

"…Dirty girl."

"Metro man!"

A short pause ensued. Then they both erupted with laughter, bodies shaking as the sounds of their mirth bounced off the metal walls, their goal and purpose lost in a single moment. Yuri was surprised at how liberated and free his heart felt. The strange, weightless feeling never left him entirely, even after they had both calmed down.

"You should laugh more," Yuri murmured, eyeing her in wonder. Rita looked at him weirdly.

"Why say that all of a sudden?"

Yuri cast his gaze upwards, closing his eyes briefly, before smiling at her mysteriously. "Because you should."

"Idiot." Rita said, shaking her head. "Whatever, let's go find the others."

"Hey… what about this thing?" Yuri said, nodding at the machine.

"Eh, it's not working right now," Rita said, waving a hand impatiently. "There's nothing else around here either, so there's no choice but to backtrack."

"Okay, I hear you," Yuri chuckled. He began walking behind her as she headed towards the ladder, a sense of satisfaction spreading inside him. He learned two things today:

_1. Rita was literally dirtier than he was._

_2. He loved her laugh._

Yuri smiled slightly, as he started up the ladder. He glanced upwards. As one would normally do when climbing a ladder, of course. His smile widened, as he tacked another piece of information onto his list.

_3. Red and white stripes._


	5. Way With Words

**AN: Short(er) chapter this time! I'm at least half-way through this fic now... (or so I've planned).  
>Nothin' much to say but building tension? Aha~ That and I'm grasping at straws. I hope you can't tell. I have a few aces up my sleeve yet though. Maybe.<strong>

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><p>Finally. Finally, they had Estelle back. You'd think it was the happy end to their journey, but no - the bastard Alexei had to ruin it all by hightailing it out of Zaphias to activate a giant sorcerer's ring in the middle of the ocean, dead set on effectively screwing over everyone on Terca Lumireis. So sure, they all were joyfully and tearfully reunited with their beloved princess, but things had gone sour far too quickly when they realised they had to stop Alexei the next day.<p>

Thus, Brave Vesperia and co. found themselves at the location of said giant sorcerer's ring a.k.a. the Enduring Shrine of Zaude, doing what they did best. Which was, obviously, kicking copious amounts of villainous rear.

"Cue the next brainwashed lot," Yuri muttered, holding Second Star up by his shoulder. Repede gave a low growl next to him. "We never get a break huh, Repede?"

"Complaining doesn't suit you," Judith chided, somewhere to his left. Her tone was light, but even Yuri could tell she was starting to get irritated by the tireless charge of knights. No… that wasn't right at all. Most probably, Judith was sick of running around in circles, trying to figure out how Zaude worked because the more time they wasted, the more time Alexei had to do his world-screwing.

"I just wanna beat the crap out of that ex-commandant. You seem a little impatient yourself," Yuri said, grinning at her. Judith chuckled, raising a misleadingly delicate hand up to her mouth.

"My, I think you're getting to know me too well," Judith responded playfully, smiling back at him.

"Less flirting, more fighting over there!"

Yuri glanced over in Rita's direction. They were getting on pretty well these days in his opinion, and if he didn't know any better, he might almost say that she was-

"Jealous?"

Yuri winced inwardly at Judith's bold vocalisation of his thoughts. Winding up the genius mage was all good fun, that is, until the fireballs started flying. Not in the enemies' direction either.

"W-What the hell!" Rita cried, outraged. "Who'd be jealous over something stupid like that?"

Yuri sucked in an exasperated breath. The temper thing was getting kinda old. There were some interesting positive side effects though. In general, the whole party's battle spirit rose at a greater rate the angrier anyone was, and a ticked off Rita Mordio was insanely good at building up that potential energy. Single-handed. Of course, the potential energy didn't stay as 'potential' for long.

"Ritaaa," Karol whined. Yuri smelled another petty argument on its way. The young boy swung Bravior onto another knight, only to see the knight suddenly burst into flames before his blade could reach it. "Quit hogging the overlimit!"

"What? And let _you_ use it? "Rita retorted in between her ridiculous incantations of 'blah blah blah'. Another Tidal Wave spell flooded the room, sucking in numerous screaming knights and bishops. And like the fight before, and the one before that; the battle was over in less than a minute.

"Yeah. We're done," Rita declared, sounding satisfied. She glanced over at Karol who was currently looking at her like she had turned into one of those giant insects from Keiv Moc. He kept right on staring, so Rita couldn't help but get a little pissed, and marched right up to him.

"You got something to say, runt?" Rita growled, glaring down menacingly. Karol whimpered in fright before bolting off to Yuri.

"What's wrong, boss?" the swordsman asked evenly. Karol hid behind him, pointing a shaky finger at Rita.

"T-Tell her, Yuri! She should at least leave some overlimit for us, right? I mean, I can't even practice my burst artes!"

"Hmmm, I suppose you've got a point there, Captain Karol," Yuri said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "But right now, we have a mission, so could you maybe leave practice later? Besides, Rita is probably the most effective in overlimit. You've seen how fast these battles have been going."

"I-I guess so…" Karol mumbled. Rita shot the boy a superior look before running ahead to take down more of Alexei's Royal Guard with just a little too much enthusiasm. Judith was happy to join her, but the rest of the party were slightly less battle crazed.

The battles went on. And on. Until Karol finally spoke up, feeling that this water puzzle had gone on long enough.

"Hey, guys, let's take five!" Karol called, panting slightly. "This is messed up!"

Estelle bobbed her head in agreement. "I agree with Karol. If we could just stop and think a little…"

Raven, who also looked a little tired despite ploughing on valiantly, glanced at the two females ahead who had either ignored or didn't hear Karol, before turning to face the young captain himself. "Well it doesn't look like the enemies are lettin' up anytime soon."

"And Rita's still using up all the overlimit," Karol grumbled.

"Ya know kid, if you're so dead set on goin' inta overlimit, why don'tcha just use it before she does?"

Karol groaned. "Well… It's an instinct thing, isn't it? I only roughly know when I'm able to use first level overlimit, but it's like Rita knows _exactly_ when we have enough battle spirit. S-So I guess Rita just has better instinct than me…"

"It gets easier with practice."

"Like I'll get any practice now…"

Raven cast a sly sideways glance at the boy. "The way you're goin' on about makes me think you're lookin' to impress a a lady friend. Could it be… that Nan girl?" Raven put on a ridiculous falsetto. "Oh Karol! You're so powerful, using overlimit so masterfully!"

Karol would have protested, had he not tripped over the leg of an unconscious knight. Yuri grabbed his arm, easily hauling him to his feet again.

"Go easy on the captain," Yuri called out to Raven, though he smiled as he said it. Raven grinned back, hurrying along to catch up with them.

"What about you, Yuri? You seem ta be fine with Rita usin' up our battle spirit."

Yuri shrugged, bashing the hilt of his sword against the helmet of a knight coming up behind him. "She gets the job done."

"Oh, I don't know… Aren't you the type who doesn't like sittin' on the bench while others steal the fun?"

"We aren't exactly here to have fun..."

"I know. But there ain't another reason?"

Yuri looked at him quizzically. "Why would there be?"

Raven laughed. "Got me."

"Heh. Okay then. Let's just focus on giving Alexei a beating he won't forget."

Yuri lied. There was another reason. A stupid reason, too, which would probably make Raven double over in howling laughter loud enough to give their position away to the entire Royal Guard if he ever knew about it.

Yuri never noticed it before, but since Rita had started spamming her overlimit upon their arrival at Zaude, he couldn't help _hearing_ her. And when those six words kept repeating themselves every time they went into a battle, his brain started snapping in innumerous places, and he fumbled wildly with his sanity.

A shock wave blasted outwards from Rita's position as she powered up yet again, a blue aura emanating from her petite figure. And shortly afterwards,

"_I'm so gonna make you hurt!_"

Those knights were in for it now. Yuri wasn't jealous of them at all, really. Nooo he wasn't. Rita's whip cracked. Yuri shivered. It didn't make sense at all. It drove him crazy too, but much to his dismay, he couldn't bring himself to stop her.

What really set him on edge, though, was when she interrupted that first line when casting certain spells, in which case she would say:

"I'm so gonna make you – ready!"

Ready for what? Battles were very distracting when there was a voice somewhere off to the side that kept asking if you were "ready?" Rita only repeated the damn word 50 times per battle.

Was it just him? He knew it shouldn't have bothered him as much as it did, and yet every time she said it, he was awfully tempted to reply with a very loud, "YEAH RITA, COME AT ME AND I'LL SHOW YOU HOW READY I AM". Maybe he should start keeping count. Out of boredom of course. Not obsession.

"Ready? …Ready? …Ready? …Ready? …Ready? …Meow!"

…Whaa?

"Yuri, look out!" Estelle cried.

Hastily, Yuri twisted around to come face-to-face with another two knights. He blocked both of their attacks before pushing back and putting some distance between them. Moments later, spears of light ran through them both before a larger lance fell and struck the ground beneath them, dazzling nearby opponents with its brilliant light and burst of white feathers.

Ah. It was good to have Estelle back.

"Are you okay, Yuri?" Estelle called, running up to him.

Yuri flashed her a smile. "Thanks to you, yeah."

"Um…" Estelle started, biting delicately on her lower lip. "What happened?"

Yuri's smile faded. "Rita," he said suddenly.

"…Rita?" Estelle said looking confused. Yuri blinked, not realising he had spoken aloud.

"Uh… yeah. She wanted to ask me something. Tell the others to move ahead," With that, Yuri hurriedly walked off in the direction of the mage girl. Estelle watched him go, feeling more than a little bewildered.

x.x.x

Rita jumped at the hand that suddenly clapped onto her shoulder. "Huh, wha – Yuri –!"

"You need to stop," Yuri said in hushed tones.

Rita gave him a weird look. "Stop what?"

Yuri looked around warily, noting the rest of the group had indeed moved on ahead, before taking hold of her arm and dragging her off to the side.

"I need you to stop using Overlimit."

"_What?"_ Rita gaped at him. "Why the hell-?"

"There are other people who want to use it."

"But hey! Didn't you say earlier that-?"

"Forget about what I said earlier," Yuri whispered, trying to keep his voice as calm and even as possible. Rita narrowed her eyes.

"You… what's your problem, huh?"

"Problem? Who has problems?" Yuri asked, raising an eyebrow. He glanced quickly at the outrage spread across her face before turning around to rejoin the party.

"Stop right there or you're getting fireballed!"

Yuri froze. Rita stomped over to stand in front of him, hands on her hips, and her usual glare on her face. "What's the real reason I'm not allowed to use overlimit? Don't give me any more bull crap either."

Yuri sighed defeatedly. He should've known this was a bloody terrible idea from the start, and that Rita wasn't the type to just _listen_, and that he should've just kept quiet, because this was something that didn't even matter.

"It's… could you just… not talk in overlimit?"

"...Do you seriously think I can cast silently?"

"Okay, okay, but are the cat noises really necessary?"

_"What?"_

"What what?"

"I said no more bull crap," Rita hissed. Yuri crossed his arms, irritation sinking its rows of tiny teeth into his neck.

"I'm not kidding. You sound ridiculous, catgirl," Yuri deadpanned.

_Ridiculous because you aren't even wearing those ears._

Rita's cheeks flushed crimson. Trembling, she fisted her hands at her sides.

"Why you…!"

"What's the matter?" Yuri said callously. He knew full well that he was treading on very thin ice right now, but he almost couldn't stop himself. His own voice sounded like it belonged to someone else. "Cat got your tongue?"

With a snarl, she lunged at him, aiming in the general direction of his face. Hastily, Yuri dodged her swiping hands. What was she trying to do, scratch him? Because she seemed awfully catlike now, if she wasn't before.

Yuri sidestepped quickly, when Rita tried to pounce on him, catching her wrists in a moment of imbalance, and pinning them behind her back. She hissed in displeasure, struggling to break free but Yuri held his grip on her.

"Ugh, let go of me, you… you…!"

He complied. Rita stumbled forward. She spun around, breathing hard. For a while they just stared each other down.

Yuri blew out, trying in vain to shrug off the awkwardness that settled itself neatly between them. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Rita bit out shortly. A pause. "You know, this would be so much easier if you just gave me a reason…"

She almost sounded kind. Like she was trying to understand him.

"Yeah… Maybe later, but we should catch up with the others first," Yuri said evasively. He strode past her, towards the door to next room, stopping when he didn't hear the sound of footsteps behind him. He glanced behind him. Rita hadn't moved an inch, her gaze distant as she clenched and unclenched her fists. Guilt gnawed at him. He knew he wasn't being fair. It was better this way.

"Hey, we don't have all day," Yuri called.

Rita growled. "Ugh, I'm coming! Just slow down a little."

_Context is key~_ came a voice in Yuri's head. He grimaced, not surprised at all that it sounded suspiciously like Raven's.


	6. Rita Special! From The Other End

**AN: Hello! Very short side-chapter here! I've decided to upload this now because I'm gonna be going on hiatus soon, so I thought might as well not keep this from you all. Sorry guys, but c'est la vie ;**

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Research Notebook  
>Rita Mordio<p>

Entry S4 – T2 – #11

Yuri Lowell is an idiot. So what if he has fifty lives? Idiot.

I mean seriously, what sane person would jump off a giant 500 ft high blastia? That's probably not what happened, and Sodia didn't exactly look like the picture of innocence, standing right by where he fell off, and looking like she got caught stealing food from Fortune's Market by Kaufman herself. It was obvious from the start that she hated Yuri guts, but not _thaaat_ much, and definitely not in a 'I need to kill that guy' kind of way. That's what I thought, at least. I guess she's more obsessed with Fred, or Fern, or whatever his name is, than I thought.

Anyway, she's a moron too. Where was I? Oh yeah… Yuri. I mean, idiot. I think that's what I'll refer to him as here from now on. My only worry is that I'll accidently call him that to his face and I doubt he'd be very impressed. He deserves it, though. Zaude is nothing like a Sorceror's Ring, and it's shorter to say than 'giant sorceror's ring' so why not just call it what it is?

I ask why, but really, the answer is simple. Yuri has absolutely zero logic, and this only provides more supporting evidence that he is an idiot. But that would mean that Karol and Raven had negative logic, because even Yuri made more sense than _those _two_._

I'm rambling, again, but what I really want to know is how and why the idiot came back from the bottom of the ocean after a week. He was snoozing at his house. At. His**.** _House_.

And everyone got so worked up over it. It was all anyone could think about, and I know that Estelle was worried sick the whole time (probably that Finn guy, too) and it's all that damn bastard Yuri's fault.

Not that I was worried, of course. I was just mad at him for making Estelle worry. That and I actually bothered to look for him, only to find that he was at the freaking Lower Quarter the whole time. I'm not really a happy bunny when my time gets wasted like that. I could've been doing research, or designing blastia, or… or… you know, something more important.

The first time I saw him after he tripped into the ocean, was when he barged into my place at Aspio. I'd just figured out how to free Estelle from her arte restrictions. He just came in, uninvited, and the first and ONLY thing he had to say to me was "hi."

_Hi. _Hahaha… idiot.

I pretended not to care. I mean, I didn't care. _Don't_ care. Ugh, whatever. I just pushed past him and started talking to Estelle, 'cause I needed to talk to her anyway, to tell her about my discovery. Judith was there too, smiling that annoying 'I know everything' smile, (which is really hard to ignore by the way), and I'm pretty sure Yuri's eyes were burning holes into my back as well, which was even harder to ignore, because, well -

Maybe I did want to talk to Yuri. Just a little bit. Give him a piece of my mind. Then fireball him afterwards, naturally.

All this effort for this one idiot…Why did we even… Why did _I_ even…

I don't know. But it's a lot more bearable to be around him than Raven or Karol. And Judith sometimes. Heck, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore.

Oh wait. I've got it. Yuri is _useful_. That's why I can't afford to lose him – he's a powerful asset to our team and he's got this unusually high multi-purpose functionality about him that makes him great to put into plans. Yeah. That's what he's good for.

It's not like I want him to make idle conversation with me every now and then, or give me a stupid nickname like he does for everyone else, or clap a hand on my back and tell me how well I've been doing with that stupid nice-guy smile on his face…

Oh god. Something is terribly wrong with me. I'm writing delirious nonsensical crap and I can't blame Estelle's cooking this time because dinner tasted just fine.

Yuri must never see this. Neither can Karol, Raven, or Judith. They'd never let me live it down. To be honest, I doubt I'd show Estelle either. Okay, I'll rephrase, NO ONE must see this. Not even Repede. And ESPECIALLY not Yuri.

In fact, I'm gonna tear this page out of my notebook, shred it to tiny pieces, and drop 'em into a trash can (Estelle reeeeally dislikes littering).

I'll probably stop writing these crazy entries too.

.

.


	7. Age, Height, And Other Awkward Things

**AN: I present to you all Observations chapter 7! Yeah, I'm back :D extra long chapter for you guys, too, hurrah!  
>Thanks to everyone for waiting, being patient, reading, and a HUGE thank you to my reviewers. You are all much loved ;_;<strong>

**Should I disclaim again...? Uhhh, well I will anyway just in case.  
>Tales of Vesperia isn't mine. If it was I'd make it have the Symphonia dating sim thing, and I'd make Yuri go for Rita :)<strong>

* * *

><p>Sometimes, Yuri had no idea what on Terca Lumireis Rita could possibly be thinking. Excluding the times she was fixing blastia and deciphering formulae, because he knew generally what she was thinking even if he couldn't comprehend it. She did, after all, tend to mutter her train of thought when she was off in her own little blastia la la land.<p>

His point was that he was completely and utterly bewildered as to why Rita had decided to play a dice game with a stranger, right after her hometown was completely destroyed by a gigantic tower-like blastia city that erupted from the ground not unlike some monstrous earth titan of legend. In any case, he was disliking giant blastia more and more by the minute. Sure, city barriers were okay, but there were far too many power-crazed guys wanting to abuse the power of blastia. Like Ragou. And Barbos. And Alexei. Probably Cumore did. Can't forget Zagi either.

"Damn blastia…" Yuri grumbled under his breath.

"_What_?" came the sharp response. Yuri eyed the girl in front of him warily. Her shoulders were stiff and her head was only half-turned towards him, but he was certain there was a dark glare written onto her face.

_Woops_. _Guess someone_ _has sharp ears._

"Nothing," he said aloud. Casually he crossed his arms, leaning slightly on one leg. "Go on and keep playing your little dice games. It's not like we have anything better to do."

The knuckles of Rita's clenched fists slowly turned white. He wouldn't have been surprised if the dice in her hand left a permanent imprint on her skin, or maybe if a vein or two popped.

"Hey…" the self-proclaimed dice master interrupted, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Ignoring him, Rita turned further and lifted her head to look at Yuri directly.

"Third time's the charm," she said calmly, almost sweetly even. The cold smile that went with it however, made Yuri want to shiver, but he effortlessly suppressed the urge. He simply shrugged.

The hand Rita was holding the dice in relaxed a fraction. Slowly, she brought her fist up, arm outstretched in front of her. Her sharp eyes fixed themselves upon the dice master's, and he gulped.

"High," she enunciated clearly. Her fist opened and she let the dice roll off her fingertips. They clacked loudly onto the wooden counter and Yuri couldn't help but feel like he was watching fate, even though he didn't believe in it. A short pause ensued between the trio as the dice stopped rolling. The white faces of the dice seemed to gleam as the dice master stared mutely at the numbers on the counter.

"Five, three, and five make thirteen, old man," Rita said triumphantly, crossing her arms.

"I... lost? It can't be…" the man muttered. He shook his head lightly, his eyes meeting Rita's with a grin. "You are truly a worthy opponent!"

"Right." Rita said smugly.

Yuri snorted. "Maybe if she beat you the first time around."

Rita scowled, raising her fist at the swordsman. "Try saying that after I kick your ass at this!"

Yuri raised an eyebrow. "Think I'll pass on that one… Kid's games aren't really my thing."

Rita growled, opening her mouth to retort when the dice master cleared his throat loudly. She whirled back around to see the man holding out a bag of various gels and medicinal bottles. She took them from him without hesitation, already starting to rummage through the bag.

"Your prize for winning," he explained, giving her a wink. "And as for your second prize…"

Yuri felt an inexplicable dread building in his gut.

"…a delicious kiss from yours truly!"

They both froze as the words came out of the man's mouth, identical looks of shock displayed on their faces. The man held the awkward silence for several tense seconds before laughing loudly.

"Haha! I was kidding! Ohoho, you should've seen the looks on your faces!"

"….."

His laughter slowly died down to a few nervous chuckles when he realised his audience didn't quite think it was as funny as he did.

"Eheh, anyway…" the man coughed. "I hereby proclaim you the New Dice Master! Be ever wary of new opponents who will take every opportunity to claim your title!"

"Whoo, a sequel," Yuri muttered.

Rita rolled her eyes. "Not likely, but whatever. Thanks anyway."

With that Rita turned her heel and stalked off down the cobbled street, not looking back once to see if Yuri was following. The swordsman watched her with a frown before turning back to the dice master.

"You've got a pretty awful sense of humour," Yuri commented, intending to keep his tone light but not quite managing it. The man gave him a quizzical look.

"What? You her boyfriend or something?" he asked, resting his cheek in his hand.

"Do we look like we're going out?" Yuri deadpanned. The man cracked a smile.

"I suppose she's a wee bit on the young side, eh?"

And there went the age thing again. He swore it wouldn't be this bad if she could just add a few inches to her height. Yuri sighed. "Tell me about it…"

"Aye?"

"Nothing."

"…You alright, son?"

"I'd love to stick around and chat, old man, but I've got places to be," Yuri drawled. Then in a fashion similar to Rita, he turned and walked away, leaving behind a very bewildered ex-dice master.

x.x.x

"So what's the plan now, genius mage?" Yuri queried, once he had caught up to her (which wasn't hard – his stride was far greater than hers). Rita slowed down a little, her mouth thinning into a line as she gave his question thought.

"What makes you think I have a plan?" Rita muttered.

Yuri looked at her weirdly. "What are you talking about? Didn't you make a device to blow up the Adephagos?"

"Yes, but…"

"-And we converted the apatheia into spirits, didn't we?"

"Well, yeah-"

"So what's the problem?"

Rita glared at him. "It's just a little iffy, okay? What if my makeshift dein nomos isn't strong enough? You can't afford to make mistakes when the world is on the line."

"Yeah, well like I said before, we could always-"

"-Turn all the cores to spirits? Yeah. You're right. Crazy idea, but I suppose it would work." Rita sighed, continuing to walk almost aimlessly. Looking around, Yuri noticed that they had both walked right past the inn and were drawing closer to the ocean. Rita stepped onto the pier, walking all the way across the wooden planks before stopping right at the edge. Yuri remained standing a couple of feet behind her.

"You don't want to get rid of the blastia," Yuri said finally.

"I… I guess that's true," Rita murmured, running a hand through her hair distractedly.

"Are you upset about what happened to Aspio?" he guessed again.

"Hm… Aspio was an amazing place for research, so of course I'm a little upset. I mean I liked it, but… it was never really a home," Rita explained with a shrug of her shoulder.

There was something strange in her voice that made Yuri think there was something deeper in her that she wasn't ready to tell him, so he decided to change the subject. "Okay, so what are you gonna do with the Rita Dein Nomos?"

Rita quirked a brow at his name for her device, and sighed, shoulders dropping a little. "I have _ideas_. I don't really… I don't have a plan."

Yuri froze. 99.7% of the time, Rita Mordio was either smug and arrogant, or snarky and ticked. Hesitation, weakness, and self-doubt would probably be near the bottom of the list if he were asked to describe her. Even if she was that kind of person deep down, she very seldom showed that side of her to anyone, including him. And when, by chance, her mask did crack enough for him to peer at her properly, he wasn't sure how to deal with whatever he saw. It wasn't only her, though. Yuri found that in general he wasn't the greatest guy for comfort and encouragement. Faintly he recalled Estelle giggling at him when he tried.

Firmly, he laid a hand on her shoulder. Rita didn't move a muscle, eyes glued to the ground, eyebrows furrowed, and mouth indefinitely tugged to the side. Yuri could've sighed in exasperation. Instead, he turned her slightly towards him and gently tilted her chin up with his other hand so that he could face her properly. She blinked rapidly in surprise, as if only just registering that he was there. He visibly saw her breathing quicken, but she didn't push him away.

"Okay, so maybe you don't have a plan," Yuri said evenly. In his head he could already hear the rest of the party booing and shaking their heads as if they were watching him a few feet away. _Nice work, Lowell. That'll cheer her up._

"But…" he continued, ignoring the scene in his head. "This isn't something we're gonna let you carry alone. Leave some stuff to us, alright?"

Rita stared at him for a few seconds before narrowing her eyes. "…You're a pretty sneaky guy, you know that? How is it that I always end up talking to you, huh?"

Before he could reply, a well-dressed man came running up to them looking distressed.

"You- you're the one," he puffed, straightening his slightly askew glasses. "Long black hair."

"Who's asking?" Yuri said coolly. The man took a breath.

"Some people with the knights wanted to talk to you about the new commandant…"

"Flynn?" Yuri said, curiosity spiking. The man nodded vigorously.

"Actually… the guy might be in a tight spot…"

"Flynn's in trouble?" Yuri asked sharply. As if on cue, he saw two more people striding briskly towards him; one with striking orange hair dressed in a knight's uniform, and one with an apple head.

x.x.x

Monsters. Left, right, ahead, behind, above, below, and he wasn't even exaggerating. They dived down at him from the sky, and they burst up from the earth beneath him. They would've been all he could see, if Flynn's armour wasn't so bright. Repede had all but disappeared into the fray. Yuri watched from the corner of his eye as Flynn slashed through the monsters with a practised finesse, his solid strikes intrinsically characteristic of a knight, and all too familiar. Yuri grinned. Well, Flynn wasn't the _only_ one who'd gotten better.

"Yuri!" Flynn yelled, blocking the attacks of several hornet and bear-like creatures. "We're almost at the middle!"

"Not yet, Commandant!" Yuri shouted back, slicing at his own wolfish opponents. "Just a little more!"

A little more, and he'd finally get to test out the Vesperia One. Rita had handed it to him, looking confident.

"_Go ahead. If it can't take on a few monsters, there's no way it can go up against the Adephagos."_

"_Pretty rare ta hear Yuri ask fer a favour!"_

"_It's our chance to do Yuri a favour!"_

Flynn's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Any time now, Yuri!" he called out a little impatiently, for being in battle for extended periods tended to wear down his innate politeness. Yuri nodded shortly.

"Whatever you say, Commandant!"

Yuri slashed away at nearby monsters, clearing a space. Repede ripped through any others that tried to get close. Using both hands he eased apart the ends of the device, before thrusting it into the ground.

"TAKE THIS!"

A bright white, bluish-tinged light exploded outwards from Vesperia One, enveloping them all, and wiping out any monster it blazed through. As Yuri shielded his eyes from the radiance, he imagined Rita's smug expression at this very moment and he almost laughed. _Of course it worked. There's no way it wouldn't._

x.x.x

"I-Is it really okay for us to stay here, Yuri?"

Yuri glanced at the anxious boy next to him. "You look tired, Boss."

"Well, yeah… hey, don't change the subject!" Karol protested.

Yuri chuckled. "Yeah, it's okay. We've got time, so one more night can't hurt."

"Awesome! Thanks Yuri!" Karol said, grinning. With that, he ran off into the crowd of cheering, dancing people.

The party in Aurnion was only to be expected. The hard work of the builders, the knights' protection of the people of northeast Hypionia, Estelle's healing, eradication of the monsters with Rita's device, the union of the guilds and the knights, the presence of his highness, Ioder… The townspeople wanted to celebrate everyone who had helped them. Not only did Kaufman organise for the town to be built, she brought entertainment as well, if the upbeat, festival-like music was any proof. Yuri had to admire her power in these situations. A pink and white figure emerged from the crowd and waved to him before approaching.

"Yuri!" Estelle exclaimed, taking a seat on the log, next to him. "Why are you over here by yourself?"

The swordsman shrugged. "Parties aren't really my thing."

"Oh, I see…" Estelle said, gaze moving downwards to her lap. "But I'm sure these people want to thank you for all you've done!"

"Hm? Thank me for what?" Yuri said with a smile. "As far as I'm concerned, you're the hero here. You've saved a lot of lives with your healing artes."

"Yes, but you risked your life when you went to activate the Vesperia One," Estelle insisted.

"I wasn't alone. I had Flynn and Repede with me."

Estelle sighed. "Yuri… why is it so hard for you to accept praise?"

Before Yuri could launch his carefully constructed retort, a dazed-looking Rita Mordio quite literally stumbled into their presence. Estelle quickly caught the girl, looking at her flushed cheeks in alarm.

"Rita? Are you okay?" she questioned in concern. Rita gently pushed Estelle's arms off her, steadying herself before giving Estelle the most serious look she could muster.

"Estelle," Rita half-shouted. Yuri winced, for it appeared that the mage girl was unaware that the volume of her voice was any louder than normal. "Someone wants you… over there."

Rita jerked her head in the direction of the crowd, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder as well for good measure. Estelle smiled in polite confusion. "Oh, thank you Rita…"

"No problemoooos," Rita replied, keeping her voice raised.

"Do you remember who it was…?"

Rita blinked mutely, frowning as she tried to remember. "Nope!"

Yuri and Estelle exchanged glances. "Uh, Rita…"

"OH, I got it!" Rita yelled happily. "It was blondie!"

"…Blondie?"

"You know… blondie!"

Estelle nodded slowly. "So… Flynn?"

"Could be Ioder," Yuri suggested. He turned to Estelle with a wink. "Well, well, looks like you've got yourself a dance!"

Estelle blushed. "Yuri!"

Yuri smiled. "Why don't you go find 'blondie'? I'll look after Rita."

"Oh… r-really?" Estelle said, looking slightly apprehensive. "Will Rita be okay?"

"Yeah, sure she will," he glanced at the mage girl. "Probably just needs some rest, so I'll take her to the inn."

"Okay then," Estelle said, a note of hesitance still ringing in her voice. Brushing off her dress, she walked back towards the crowd. Yuri watched her as she disappeared, before returning his attention to Rita, who was currently finding entertainment in repeatedly kicking the log they were sitting on moments before. Yuri crossed his arms.

"You've been drinking," he stated, arching a brow at her. Rita looked at him incredulously.

"Of course I've been drinking! I'll get… get… _dehydrated_ if I don't."

"You're underage."

"For _what_?"

Yuri paused for a moment before replying. "Alcohol."

"Wooooah no," Rita said, taking a step back and raising her hands in defence. "I was drinking punch the whole night."

"Then someone's been spiking drinks," Yuri said, shaking his head. "Anyway, Flynn'll kick their ass later."

He took hold of Rita's forearm, gently steering them towards the inn. Rita didn't protest, but neither did she make any effort to move, content with being dragged along. That is, until she saw where they were going.

"W-Whuh? Why're we going there?"

Yuri glanced at her. "I told Estelle I'd take you to the inn."

"Whaaa? Why? That's where you go when it's bedtime and I… I'm not…" Rita stifled a yawn. "…T-ahh… Tired."

"Sure you're not," Yuri muttered, though he cracked an amused smile at her poor persuasion. He opened the door, motioning for her to go inside. Stubbornly, Rita stood rooted to the spot, glaring at the doorway.

"I'm not goin' in," she said firmly. Yuri sighed exasperatedly, scratching his head.

"Just go to sleep, Rita."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because…" Rita muttered, wrapping her arms around herself. "'Cause I won't be able to anyways."

Yuri's curiosity peaked at that. "Why not?"

"'_Cause._ You're gonna ditch me. I know you are."

"Yeah…?"

"I hate that."

Yuri blinked a few times, feeling speechless. Rita started trembling. She hugged herself tighter.

"I hate being alone."

"Rita-"

"When we blow up those sky tentacles too. I'll be by myself again." Rita said bitterly. "I _hate_ that."

For the next few moments, Yuri felt as though he had forgotten how to speak. Rita kept her dark expression directed straight ahead, not looking at him once. Finally she drew a deep, shaky breath, letting out a small 'heh'.

"…Got nothin' to say, huh? I _knew_ that you-"

"No."

"Huh?"

Yuri swiftly took hold of her forearms, almost roughly pulling her closer to him. Slowly, he leaned his head down so it touched hers, her hair brushing against his forehead.

"When we destroy the Adephagos, we probably will go our separate ways," Yuri began evenly. "But you can always come visit us. Any of us, I'm sure."

Rita made a small, non-committal noise, although Yuri felt a warm pressure on his shoulders as she placed her hands on him. Unsure if she was going to pull him closer or push him away, he pressed on.

"I'll stay at the inn tonight okay? I won't leave you."

Rita stilled beneath him and their almost-but-not-quite embrace. "…That's not good enough."

Yuri blinked. "Wha-"

"You're gonna sleep with me."

x.x.x

Yuri had no idea how he managed to get himself in this situation.

_How in Undine's name did he get into this situation? _

Oh, right. Rita. Damn. Yuri glanced at the door, gauging the distance he would need to bolt for him to disappear without Rita noticing. Any moment now, someone would come in and get completely the wrong idea. Sure _she_ was the one who had her arms wrapped around _him_, and he wasn't doing _anything_ but he'd still be the one who ended up with the disapproving stares.

"Mmmmm…" Rita murmured sleepily. She inhaled deeply, pressing her face (among other things) against his back while she squeezed his middle even tighter. "Smells… good…"

Yuri exhaled. "Yeah, well… that's because I actually shower," he muttered under his breath.

Rita ignored him, nuzzling into his hair comfortably. Yuri tensed as she rubbed herself against his back. Hell. It felt pretty good. She was nice. Soft. And – damn… Even though her chest was small, he could still feel her curves acutely because she was pushing so intimately up against him, and then when she moved, _ah_-

What an exquisite torture. He wasn't quite sure if this was a blessing or a curse (it was also the second time he'd been in an awkward intimate position with her, grief), but he found he was enjoying this far more than he should have been…

No. He needed to get away. If he was still here when Rita woke up sober next morning, he'd die for sure. Not to mention how awkward this would be among their group.

Tentatively, he tried to ease himself from her grasp. She responded by tightening her grip on him.

_Damn. It. _

Why was he so cursed?

Yuri let himself return to a reasonable state of calm. That was when Rita decided to drape her leg over his, her inner thigh brushing up his leg alarmingly. Yuri's eye twitched. Maybe she's only pretending to be asleep and consciously trying to seduce him.

It felt like eternity, but it was only ten minutes later before he heard the inevitable knock on the inn door. Several knocks actually. Yuri calmly judged that they were louder than what was polite, and slightly clumsy and irregular, so if he had to guess…

"Yuri, are you in here!" came Karol's loud, enthusiastic voice. The young boy looked around. "Huh?"

The room was dark, except for the moonlight streaming in through the door that Karol was currently holding open. He spotted Yuri's figure on a bed, half bathed in the silvery glow, and covered his mouth hastily, as though he could take back his boisterous voice in doing so.

"Oops, sorry," he whispered. He was just about to turn around when another light flicked on which looked kinda like a lamp. The lamp slowly illuminated the outline of a sitting figure in the next bed, getting brighter until the features of a dishevelled Rita Mordio were made painfully clear, and Karol finally realised that the light wasn't actually a lamp, but a-

"Firebaaaaaaall!" Karol screamed, running for life. Rita eyes gleamed as she aimed her finger.

"Heh, later runt," she whispered darkly, before shouting. "FIREBALL!"

Outside, Yuri heard Karol squeal loudly, indicating that he was unfortunate enough to be hit by Rita's attack. Somewhere to his left, a soft thud sounded and the slight rustle of covers – probably Rita had gone back to sleep. Yuri breathed a silent sigh of relief. He felt a little bad for Karol, but he really wanted Rita to not remember any of what happened earlier. Relaxing, he let his eyes drift shut as he slipped slowly away into sleep.

In the next bed, Rita was mentally digging herself a little hole to crawl into so she could hide and never show her face again. It was probably why she was under the covers anyway – it was the closest thing to being buried alive she could think of right now.

If she went back to sleep she could probably pretend it really was all a dream, but now…

Her face burned. She could feign ignorance all she liked, but she knew what happened. She was jolted fully awake when Yuri tore himself from her grasp and leapt into the next bed, just before Karol came in. She realised what she had done was not actually in her mind, but in real life as she hurled her fireball.

On the extremely rare occasion that she did pick up a fiction from Aspio's library when she was young, she always hated those endings where the whole adventure was just a dream. And now…

She would happily give 'Victoria' to Judith if tonight could all just be a dream.


	8. Yuri

She wasn't talking to him. It wasn't the usual 'not talking to him' either, where she was distracted by blastia or stray cats or Estelle, but the really obvious 'keep a minimum 3 feet away from that guy' cold shoulder type behaviour. Briefly he wondered if she was blatantly ignoring him on purpose or if she was trying to be subtle and failing miserably. Either way, it could only mean one thing – she knew about _that night's little incident_.

It had been three days since then, and he finally decided he wasn't going to let it continue any longer.

Their party was currently frog-hunting. Rather, they were on a quest to gather materials yet again, only this time it was to aid the reconstruction of Aurnion. But still. _Frog-hunting_. Such an ostensibly trivial task was bound to amass uncertainty. And so it was that Karol was the first to question the group's priorities.

"Um… Yuri?" he said in hushed tones, as the party hid behind a bush.

"Yeah?" Yuri muttered next to him.

"Don't we have more important things to do…? Like…uh…you know, saving the world and stuff." Yuri frowned.

"We need to be quiet if this stakeout is going to be successful," he said seriously. Karol clapped a hand over his mouth. Over the top of the young boy's head, Yuri could see Rita roll her eyes. If she wasn't doing the whole not-talking-to-him thing she probably would've voiced her sharp opinions long ago, but this was how it turned out and the result was, frankly, a strange and rather unsettling peace.

Yuri wasn't quite sure what he should be more worried about – Rita keeping her mouth shut for once, or him starting to miss her smug/irritated/angry/whiny tone.

"Hey, quit spacin' out Yuri," Raven whispered to his left. "I think one of 'em's coming this way."

"…Right," Yuri said, after a beat. "I see it."

"Time to strike," Judith breathed, a glint in her ruby eyes. Before the rest of them could blink, let alone formulate a proper strategy, Judith leapt out from the bushes, stepping forward twice before launching herself into the air. The frog picked up on the tiny rustle of movement, eyes darting around warily. It never looked up in time to spot the aerial threat. Judith easily skewered it with her spear, swiftly ending its life.

"Whoooo!" Raven cheered, standing to stretch. Beside him, Estelle bit her lip.

"Raven…" she mumbled. "Shouldn't we be keeping quiet? We might scare them off…"

Raven smiled down at her. "Well… I don' think we'll need ta worry about that. Ain't that right, Captain Karol?"

Looking slightly nervous, Karol raised his weapon and glanced around. "Y-Yeah… They don't really like it when you kill one of their army…"

Rita snorted. "Army? Is that what you call a bunch of puny frogs?"

Karol bristled. "Y-Yeah! That's the official name for a group of 'em! And they're called '_Pearlits_' and… w-wait, did you guys hear that?"

Steadily, the sound of croaks and thumping hops grew louder and louder. Yuri nodded, a smirk of his own forming. "Time to rough these guys up!"

The rest of the party charged out from their hiding spot and moved into position. Seconds later, the first Pearlit jumped out from a shadow, moonlight glinting off its pearls. Yuri whipped around to face the threat, charging forward for a horizontal slash. In a split second, he manoeuvred himself behind the frog and sliced again. Mere moments later, a typical Karol scream sounded. Yuri tracked the noise to a large mass further to his left and his eyes widened at the sight.

"K-Karol! I'll help!" Estelle cried, rushing forward towards the boy whom an increasing majority of the amphibious creatures were attacking.

"Estelle! Look out!" Yuri tried to warn, but the altruistic princess ignored any friend or foe that would distract her from her heroic intent.

Only when the princess heard a particularly menacing croak from a _very_ nearby source did she turn around, mouth opening to cry out. Yuri sped towards her but before he could reach her, a red blur snatched up the princess and took her into the sky. Yuri cursed and prepared his aerial artes, but his jaw slackened when he saw what had taken hold of Estelle.

Rita. Flying. Holding Estelle up with one arm, while the other was shooting fireballs into the swarming mass of frogs.

His first thought was something along the lines of 'Is Rita really that strong?' followed by 'How in the hell is she doing that?'

Then he remembered those painfully tedious visits to Mount Temza to collect enough materials - _why did they seem to spend so much time doing that?_ - to make her precious new spell book. And also, he noted in mild amusement… Ristelle.

"Flying mages and princesses," Yuri muttered. "What next?"

He knew one thing for sure though. Rita was going to be begging for an orange gel after this dramatic stunt. Yuri smirked. Or maybe some pudding.

It didn't take long for the battle to finish. After all, they had gotten fairly strong from all the training they went through on their travels.

Yuri heard Karol muttering something about having to be bait all the time and Raven firing endless strings of compliments at Judith's graceful fighting style. Any moment now, he would hear-

"Ugh, does someone have an orange gel? I'm dying here…"

Bingo.

x.x.x

"Yuri?" Estelle said demurely, while the group was setting up camp on the island. Yuri barely glanced up at the princess from his crouched position, continuing to push the last tent peg into the ground.

"Mm?"

"I think Rita wants an orange gel," she said quickly. Yuri smirked to himself before standing and brushing himself off.

"…And?"

Estelle frowned a little. "Well I asked Karol first, but he told me you wanted to help him look after the items for a bit…"

Yuri almost laughed. "What, you don't think I'm capable of being nice and doing favours for our boss?"

"No! That's not what I meant!" Estelle said, getting flustered. Yuri shook his head with a slight smile.

"I'm kidding Estelle. Although, why doesn't Rita ask me for one herself?" Yuri asked as innocently as a troublemaker could. Estelle opened her mouth then closed it shortly after, looking thoughtful.

"To be honest, I was wondering that myself," she admitted, clasping her hands together. Yuri smirked.

"Tell her I'll give her one if she comes to ask me directly."

Estelle bit her lip, but nodded slowly. She started to walk away from him, but didn't get far before she turned back slightly.

"I also noticed that you have your 'Item Hater' title on, Yuri," she murmured, the barest hint of accusation in her voice. Yuri smiled widely.

"Really? I didn't notice."

x.x.x

"Yuurrriii," called a sing-sing voice. Yuri lifted an eyebrow as he saw Judith approaching –no, sauntering, over to him the next morning.

"Juuuddyyy," Yuri played along, imitating her greeting. The Krityan smiled brightly at him, and Yuri just knew something was off.

"What's got you so happy this morning?" he asked after a pause. Judith's smile widened.

"Oh, nothing too concerning…" Judith said amiably, strolling past Yuri and observing the area around them. Yuri folded his arms.

"But?"

Judith chuckled. "It merely seems that our little mage girl is making a cake. How successful she will be, I have yet to determine."

Yuri stared. "Rita's doing _what?_"

Judith laughed again. "I just thought you be interested, since I know you have _such_ a sweet tooth."

"But Rita's a terrible cook… I mean, she's better than Estelle when she can be bothered, but…" Yuri felt slightly dazed. He should've known that she would get desperate. Before he could get the cogs in his brain to spin normally again, he heard an anguished, melodramatic cry.

"YURI!" Raven yelled, running towards him and looking like tears were about to spill from his eyes. "This is your doing, isn't it?!"

"Huh? What is it now?" Yuri said dryly, relaxing himself before thinking furiously on what to do next.

"Rita's making cake for breakfast! _Cake!_" Raven cried. "You know how unhealthy that is? You youngsters are insane! My poor old heart can't take this… this… abuse!"

Yuri sighed. "Everyone knows you just don't like sweets, old man."

"What!" Raven yelped. "I'm serious here! Judith darlin' please, tell him how crazy he is!"

"My, Raven, you certainly are worked up this morning. I assure you though, Rita's cooking has nothing to do with Yuri," Judith chipped in. She eyed Yuri in amusement. "Unless, there's something you're not telling us…?"

Raven turned toward him suspiciously. Yuri calmly showcased the most serious expression he could muster.

"This has nothing to do with me," he said evenly. "Rita can make whatever she wants for breakfast."

"I shoulda known it'd be useless ta ask you of all people to fix this," Raven said with a scowl. He stalked off, muttering under his breath, no doubt to look for Estelle. Yuri could've sworn he heard him say something about renaming themselves the Candymania Guild.

"That was interesting," Judith spoke up, mirth still dancing along her features. "But Yuri, didn't you just say yourself that Rita was a terrible-"

She was interrupted before she could finish her sentence by the sound of something metal clanging, a very Estelle-like scream, and one of their tents exploding, not too far from them. Yuri visibly cringed as the inhabitants of the tent tumbled out and scrambled away, while the tent was slowly engulfed in flames.

Estelle coughed and spluttered, crawling over to Rita to briefly assess her physical condition before looking around hastily for something she could use to put out the fire, uncaring about the blackened stains which decorated her dress like dalmation spots. Finding nothing in her immediate vicinity, she looked pleadingly at the mage girl.

"Oh Rita, you have to do something!"

"H-Huh? Oh… uh, right," Rita mumbled unintelligently, still feeling dazed from the blast. She held a shaky hand before her. "Er… Champagne…"

The fire roared, it's size doubling. Rita's eyes widened realising what she had just done. She scrambled to her feet, pulling Estelle up with her.

"U-Uh, I mean-!" she calmed herself down, and pulled out her scroll. Hastily, Estelle backed away as the mage started spinning. "_Oh mad and greedy waters…"_

Yuri paled. He exchanged glances with Judith. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Probably," Judith grinned. In a flash, Yuri stepped forward to heft the still semi-stunned princess up over his shoulder. Seemingly out of nowhere, Repede caught up to them, barking in agitation.

"Time to bolt!"

x.x.x

Much later, after the commotion of this morning followed by the irate complaints of Raven and Karol who were unfortunate enough to get caught within Tidal Wave radius; Yuri and Judith were having a meaningful conversation on the party's return trip to Aurnion.

"She's with Estelle," Judith said, eyes glinting at him mischievously. "If you know what I mean."

Yuri stared. "No way."

"I think it's definitely possible." Yuri looked away. Those gleaming ruby eyes were too sharp. He was sure she was teasing him anyway, so he just brushed off her words. Judith noticed and laughed.

"Yuri, why is it so hard to accept that Rita might not be interested in your gender?"

"Because she doesn't," Yuri said flatly. "She's straight, or she goes both ways."

"Or so you wish."

This time it was Yuri's turn to laugh. "Oh I wouldn't mind too much if Rita didn't go for guys. Nothing I could do about that." He glanced over at the princess and the mage, deep in conversation some distance behind them. "I just know for a fact that she's not exclusively into girls."

Judith smirked. "Maybe she's confused."

"She's pretty mature for a fifteen-year-old."

"Your hair is rather long…"

"Okay, now you're really messing with me."

x.x.x

Rita was into girls.

It was a realisation that struck him as suddenly as bullet to the side –he saw it coming out of his peripheral vision, expected it even, but didn't have quite enough time to prepare himself for it.

Ah well. It wasn't a blow he couldn't recover from. It's not like he ever took this seriously either – Rita was pretty cute, easy to rile up, nice smile… The genuine ones of course, not the sadistic ones she plastered on whenever she was bullying Karol. Not that she hit him as often these days.

And those cat ears… Mmmm mmmhmm.

Yuri shifted a little restlessly in his bed. Now wasn't really the best time for those thoughts. He heard the whispering across the room quieten briefly, before picking up again. Yep, definitely not the right time.

Because right now, at this very moment, Rita Mordio was in Estelle's bed.

Nah, they weren't doing anything interesting from what Yuri last saw, as he pretended to sleep. Just talking. But still. He was pretty sure the mage girl was in Judith's bed the other night. Did girls like doing that? Staying up late in each other's beds? Yuri grimaced. This was bothering him a lot more than it should've.

And so naturally he thought he'd confront her about it tomorrow.

x.x.x

"Rita," Yuri said loudly, his voice cutting the crisp morning air in Aurnion. The mage in front of him stiffened but did not turn around. Yuri rolled his eyes and repeated himself even louder. "Hey, Rita!"

"You don't need to shout!" Rita hissed, finally spinning around to face him. Yuri smiled. Finally. Why didn't he do this earlier? Screw all these subtle methods to get someone's attention. It felt good to have that red-hot glare back on him.

"Easy there, genius," Yuri said cheerfully, quickly closing the distance between them. "It's too early to be getting worked up, isn't it?"

"Yeah well, mmpf— !"

He cut her off immediately by shoving a gel into her mouth. She looked at him furiously and it looked almost as if she was going to spit out the offending gel, but as time passed, her face grew more relaxed. It was amusing to watch. Rita started to chew slowly, savouring the taste and closing her eyes in happiness.

"That's better," Yuri said with a smile. Rita nodded, making a very blissful (if not slightly distracting) "mmmmmhmmm" noise. She swallowed and released a small sigh. Then her eyes locked with Yuri's in a glare just as fierce as before.

"So why the hell didn't you give me one of those before!" she said angrily. Yuri raised an eyebrow at her.

"Before?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

Rita growled. "I coulda really used one of those in our fights these past few days. I can't believe I've lasted this long… What's a dumb swordsman like you need orange gels for, anyway!"

"Hey now," Yuri said, feeling a little miffed. "Not my problem if my artes are more efficient than everyone else's."

"Whatever," Rita muttered. "I still can't believe you've been hogging them for all this time!"

"What are you talking about?" Yuri said casually. Before Rita could explode her response, he continued with a grin. "You never asked me for one."

"I—what?" Rita said, looking frustrated. "Y-Yeah I did!"

"In your head."

"…So what?"

Yuri sighed. "Rita."

"Wha-at." she huffed, averting her gaze. Yuri looked at her critically and inched closer towards her.

"You've been ignoring me," he breathed near her ear. She visibly shivered before leaping a foot in the air.

"Don't do that!" she yelled, blushing hotly and backing away from him.

"Are you guys okay back there?" Karol called, looking around to check on the duo bringing up the rear.

"Yeah, we're good," came Yuri's easy response. Rita just folded her arms and pouted, face still treacherously pink. Karol shrugged and kept walking. Yuri glanced back down at the little mage next to him. Pretty negative response. Maybe Judith was right… He'd better make sure anyway.

"Hey Rita," he said suddenly. Rita didn't even look up.

"What," she muttered.

"You wouldn't mind if Estelle did that though, right?"

Rita tensed. "Did what?"

"You know, the whole whisper in your ear thing?"

"Is that what it was?" she mumbled. "Of course not."

"And you really like Estelle, right?"

Rita stared suspiciously at the swordsman. "What's your point?"

"And Judith."

Rita pulled a face. "Riiiight… she's okay. Better than before."

"So you're a lesbian," Yuri said coolly, his straight face masking perfectly how utterly ridiculous and irrational he knew he sounded. Rita froze. A tense, stretched-out moment passed. In his head Yuri could see an ellipsis forming inside a little speech bubble floating next to Rita's head. It was quite funny, really.

And then he was blasted with the most enormous fireball he'd ever been on the receiving end of (at point blank range, no less), which really _wasn't_ funny, but at least that probably meant a solid "NO, YOU IDIOT" and "HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET TO THAT CONCLUSION." He smiled faintly to himself.

Needless to say, the burns were probably worth it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> So uh I guess I'm back *nervous laugh* I wish I had returned with a more satisfying chapter for you all, but at least it's here right..? Heh. Hehe :) estimating 2-3 chapters more, so hopefully can get this done! *cracks knuckles*


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